Jobless total falls again

Unemployment has continued to fall while the number of people in work has reached a record high, new figures show.

The number out of work between October and December fell by 36,000 to 1,506,000, the lowest total for almost a year.

The Office for National Statistics also reported that the number of people claiming unemployment benefit fell last month by 3,500 to 928,500 - a jobless rate of 3.1%, the lowest figures since records began in 1975.

Employment has continued to climb, with a record 27,812,000 people in work in the three months to December, an increase of 253,000 over the year.

Average earnings increased by 3.7% in the year to December, down by 0.1% from the previous month and the lowest figure since last spring when it was 3.3%.

Public sector pay rises averaged 4.6% in the latest period compared with 3.5% in private firms.

Manufacturing jobs continue to be lost, falling by 148,000 in the quarter to December - compared with the same period a year earlier - to 3,570,000, the lowest since records began in 1985.

The biggest losses over the year were in electrical and optical equipment (49,000), textiles and clothing (19,000) and metal products (22,000).

There were 11,000 days lost in December because of industrial disputes, taking the total over the year to 1.3m, the highest since 1990.

The UK's 5.1% unemployment rate compares with an average of 8.5% for the 12 European countries that have adopted the euro.

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